Residual Waste from Selected...pollution of these sites (Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross,...

130 RESIDUAL WASTE FROM SELECTED INDUSTRIES

3. Compliance with environmental regulations, if they

exist, cannot be guaranteed and there is less (or

maybe even no) awareness of the adverse impacts of

pollutants on environmental and human health in

LAMICs (Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross, 2012,

2013; United Nations Environment Programme, 2013c).

In this section, therefore, we briefly address hazardous

pollutants released from several industry segments,

such as the cement, paper, textile, and rubber industries.

Textile industry

Introduction

During the manufacture (the scouring, bleaching, col-

oring, and finishing steps) of wearing apparel, large

volumes of water (in general, 60 – 400 L) are needed to

produce and process 1 kg of clothes. In addition, large

volumes of hazardous agents are used. Both the amount

of water consumed and the agents used depend on the

type of fabric being processed (wool, cotton, polyester,

etc.) (Yusuff and Sonibare, 2004; International Finance

Corporation and World Bank Group, 2007). For instance,

1967 data from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s

Federal Water Pollution Control Administrations (Federal

Water Pollution Control Administration, 1967) showed

that washing and rinsing operations for the production

of 1 kg of wool and cotton clothes required 250 – 580 L

water, while for the production of 1 kg synthetic clothes

about 25 – 240 L of water were needed. (Data from 1967

is used here because these older data might better repre-

sent the actual water consumption in LAMICs where

older techniques are applied.) Because of the high con-

sumption of water and chemical agents during the textile

manufacturing wetting processes, wastewaters are the

major source of chemical pollutants. Thus, the key envi-

ronmental issues associated with the textile industry are

water use, inadequate wastewater treatment, and inap-

propriate disposal of aqueous effluents, especially in LA-

MICs (Yusuff and Sonibare, 2004). For a more complete

picture, it must be recognized that during the production

of natural fabrics, such as cotton and wool, water is also

used for growing the plants and raising the animals, which

increases the water footprint of these products. Further-

more, in growing the raw materials of natural fabrics (cot-

ton and wool from sheep or other animals) toxic pesticides

might be used as well (Syrett, 2002).

Residual Waste from Selected IndustriesPollution risks from other industrial waste

Our report covers the following chemical pollutants/

sectors: (1) pesticides, (2) pharmaceuticals, (3) mining,

and (4) e-waste. This is because our highest concern is

for environmental and human health in LAMICs and be-

cause of the availability, although partially fragmentary,

of comprehensive and global databases. Comprehensive

databases about industrial production, exports, and im-

ports are, however, generally not publicly available. This

is mainly because of the complex production chains and

the non-transparency of industrial data (Larsson and Fick,

2009). Chemical pollution from these industries is of a

very varied and complex nature. Nevertheless, the scat-

tered data about industrial activities in LAMICs that were

available showed the high impacts on human health and

there was evidence that industrial pollutants cause sig-

nificant environmental pollution and degradation (Lars-

son et al., 2007; Larsson, 2010; Blacksmith Institute and

Green Cross, 2012, 2013). Despite the limited availability

of data, the industrial sector needs to be considered and

discussed as a significant source of highly toxic pollutants

and more investigations about industrial pollutants in

LAMICs are required. This is especially so since:

1. The start of worldwide chemical intensification and

the outsourcing of the industry from HICs to LAMICs

(see section The future of chemical pollutants in

low- and middle-income countries, p. 15; United

Nations Environment Programme, 2013c; Pricewater-

houseCoopers, 2008; United Nations Industrial

Development Organization, 2014).

2. Infrastructure is lacking and obsolete and environmen-

tally unfriendly methods are used for the production

and processing of industrial commodities (Yusuff and

Sonibare, 2004; Mohanta et al., 2010; Mehraj et al.,

2013).

CHEMICAL POLLUTION IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES 131

lateral Investment Guarantee Agency, 2004; Le Marechal

et al., 2012).

Case study of concern of the textile industry

Rahman et al. (2008) assessed the environmental im-

pacts of the wastewater effluents from the textile and

dyeing industries on the ecosystem of Karnopara Canal

at Savar, Bangladesh. By monitoring the physicochemi-

cal properties, such as pH, color, dissolved oxygen, BOD,

COD, TSS, total dissolved solids, alkalinity, salinity, tur-

bidity, electrical conductivity, iron, and ammonia, they

revealed that all the water of the Karnopara Canal was

outside the tolerable limits of the Department of Environ-

ment, Bangladesh standards. Thus, these highly polluted

effluents had adverse impacts on the surrounding land

and aquatic ecosystems and even on the local community

(Rahman et al., 2008). Figure 29 is a picture of untreated

effluents from the textile, the dying, and the leather in-

dustries. Data from Hämäläinen et al. (2006) showed that

the estimated number of fatal occupational accidents is

much higher in LAMICs than those of HICs (especially in

India, China and Sub-Saharan Africa). This indicates that

working conditions in LAMICs are often poor, less safe,

and less controlled.

Pollution potential from the textile industry

Wastewater from the textile industry often has poor qua-

lity by showing high levels (up to 2000 mg/L) of biological

oxygen demand (BOD; Multilateral Investment Guarantee

Agency, 2004). BOD5 measures the amount of oxygen

(mg/L) required for the microbiological decomposition of

the organic material contained in the water within 5 days

at a constant temperature of 20°C (United Nations, 2007).

The wastewater also has an increased alkalinity, gene-

rally, a chemical oxygen demand (COD), and carries an

amount of solids (measured as total suspended solids;

TSS); [COD indicates the amount of oxygen (mg/L) which

is needed for the oxidation of all the organic substances

in the water (LAR Process Analysers AG, 2016)]. The

most relevant toxic agents that might be used and

released during the individual steps in textile manufactu-

ring are listed below.

Washing and scouring operations – non-biodegradab-

le and less degradable surfactants (alkyl phenol ethoxy-

lates, APEs; Scott and Jones, 2000) and organic solvents

(phenols; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency,

2004; Le Marechal et al., 2012).

Dyeing operations – benzidine-based azo-dyes (some of

the azo-dyes can lead to the formation of environmentally

toxic and carcinogenic amines) or sulfur dyes, and dyes

which contain heavy metals (intentionally or contamina-

ted with arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper,

nickel, lead, and zinc), or chlorines (Multilateral Invest-

ment Guarantee Agency, 2004; Yusuff and Sonibare,

2004; International Finance Corporation and World Bank

Group, 2007). Dyeing carriers can involve heavy metals

or chlorines. For the dyeing of polyester and polyester-

wool mixtures at lower temperatures, halogenated car-

riers are used to help the dyes penetrate the polyester

fibers (Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, 2004;

Syrett, 2002; Le Marechal et al., 2012).

Bleaching operations – involve the use of sulfur and

chlorine-based bleaching agents (sulfur dioxide gas and

sodium hyperchlorite), caustic soda (NaOH), acids, and sur-

factants (the use of peroxides is recommended) (Multi-

lateral Investment Guarantee Agency, 2004; Yusuff and

Sonibare, 2004; International Finance Corporation and

World Bank Group, 2007; Le Marechal et al., 2012).

Cloth protection – for the protection of natural fabrics and

clothes, hazardous pesticides are used sometimes (diel-

drin, pentachlorophenol, and arsenic or mercury based

pesticides). Synthetic clothes may contain plasticizers

and brominated or fluorinated flame retardants (Multi-

Figure 29: Untreated wastewater from the textile, dying, and leather industries in Savar,

Bangladesh (Picture: Daniel Lanteigne, 2010a).


greatest amount of contaminants is released from poor-

ly run and managed small scale facilities and in legacy

leather processing sites. It was calculated that more than

1.8 million persons are at risk worldwide because of the

pollution of these sites (Blacksmith Institute and Green

Cross, 2012).

Pollution potential from the leather industry

Wastewater effluents from tanneries have, similar to

textile industry effluents, high levels of BOD and COD

(Bosnic et al., 2000; Mohanta et al., 2010). Normally, natural

and healthy water systems can handle a specific amount

of effluents with a high oxygen demand, the effluents of

tanneries (especially if untreated) however, often contain

excessive loads of water with a high oxygen demand.

This can lead to an oxygen withdrawal, adversely affecting

the plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates or even causing

their death (Bosnic et al., 2000; Mohanta et al., 2010). Besides

these aqueous pollutants, large amounts of solid waste

are produced during leather production. These solid

wastes mainly contain leather particles and the residues

of the dead animals, or they originate from chemical dis-

charges and precipitated reagents used during the pro-

cessing of the leather. If these solid wastes are not

adequately removed from the wastewater they can pre-

cipitate as sludge and clog wastewater pipes or cover

plants and sediments, thus causing the environmental

degradation of aquatic systems (Bosnic et al., 2000).

From the pollutants released from the tanneries, chro-

mium is considered to be the one of greatest concern

from the environmental and human health perspectives

Cr(III) (which is mainly used in the tanning process) is

less toxic under certain environmental conditions. In the

presence of manganese oxides or other strong oxidizers

(Rai et al., 1989) this trivalent chromium can be oxidized

to Cr(VI), which is classified in IARC group 1, carcino-

genic to humans (International Agency for Research on

Cancer, 2015). Organic solvents, sulfides, ammonia, chlo-

rides, and additional heavy metals, such as lead and

cadmium from dyes, can be found in the wastewater ef-

fluents of tanneries as well (Bosnic et al., 2000; Mohanta

et al., 2010; Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross, 2012).

Case study of concern in the leather industry

Studies conducted in 2007 and 2013 by the Blacksmith In-

stitute in the Hazaribagh district of Dhaka, Bangladesh,

provide lists of the world’s 30 (Hanrahan et al., 2007) and

10 (Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross, 2013) most pol-

luted places. In the Hazaribagh region there are about 200

tanneries on about 25 ha of land, employing between

Leather industry

Introduction

During the production of leather, several different pro-

cesses need to be carried out. Of these, the tanning pro-

cess is the most important one from an environmental

point of view. During the tanning processes, the skins of

animals are treated to produce leather. Large amounts of

different hazardous chemicals are required to make the

raw animal skins more visually attractive and robust. For

example, to remove and break down the hair and animal

parts on the hides, sulfides are used. Chlorides are used

to preserve the leather from decomposition. Often, triva-

lent chromium salts are used to further stabilize leather

products (Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross, 2012).

Similar to the textile industry, large volumes of water are

needed during the leather tanning process as well. During

the processing of 1 kg of raw material, 30 – 40 L of waste-

water is produced (Ingle et al., 2011). Hence, wastewater

effluents from the tanneries (especially if they are untrea-

ted) are the major exposure pathway releasing hazardous

chemicals into aquatic systems (Blacksmith Institute

and Green Cross, 2012). The key environmental issues

associated with the leather industry are, therefore, the

same as those for the textile industry – high water con-

sumption, inadequate wastewater treatment, and in-

appropriate disposal of aqueous effluents. According to

the database of the Blacksmith Institute, there are over

100 contaminated tannery sites (Figure 30). Of these, the

Figure 30: Untreated wastewater of leather tanneries in Bangladesh is released into the

environment (Picture: Daniel Lanteigne, 2010b)


the high emission of GHGs have significant impacts on

environmental and human health, for this report we are

focusing more on the highly toxic organic and inorganic

compounds that are released into the environment

through paper production (Ince et al., 2011; WWF, 2015).

During paper production, large volumes of water are

used. For instance, even if state-of-the-art technologies

are used, water consumption is about 60 L/kg of paper

produced (Thompson et al., 2001; Ince et al., 2011). Data

about the degree of pollution caused by the paper indus-

try in LAMICs are much less readily available than data

about textile and tannery pollutants. Nevertheless, given

the large volumes of water required during paper produc-

tion, the environment can be exposed to large volumes of

wastewater with toxic compounds, especially if poorly-

functioning, or even no wastewater treatment facilities

are available. This often the case in LAMICs (Corcoran et

al., 2010).

Pollution potential from the paper industry

Like most industrial effluents, the wastewater effluent of

the paper industry can have elevated BOD5, COD, and

TSS levels, which can adversely affect aquatic environ-

ments (Pokhrel and Viraraghavan, 2004). In addition to

these elevated levels, the most relevant and hazardous

agents that might be released during the several steps of

paper manufacture are listed below.

Wastewaters from wood preparation processes contain

suspended solids, dirt, and organic matter, and they have

elevated BOD levels. The wastewater from the digester

house, which is referred to as ‘black liquids’, contains che-

micals that were used for cooking the wood as well as for

extracting lignin and other hot water extracts of the wood.

A comprehensive literature research by Pokhrel and Vira-

raghavan (2004), covering the wastewaters of the diges-

ter house, show that the highest level of BOD5 was

13,088 mg/L, that of COD was 38,588 mg/L, and that of

TSS was 23,319 mg/L. In addition, higher levels of

halogenated compounds (measured as adsorb-able orga-

nic halides, AOX) and volatile organic carbons (VOC), such

as terpenes, alcohols, phenols, methanol, acetone, chlo-

roform, etc., can be measured in these effluents as well

(United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2002;

Pokhrel and Viraraghavan, 2004). During the subsequent

pulp washing, wastewater with higher BODs, CODs, and

amounts of suspended solids are generated in the main


Pokhrel and Viraraghavan, 2004). During pulp bleaching,

the pollutants of highest concern are adsorbed organic

compounds, inorganic chlorine compounds (ClO3-), orga-

nochlorine compounds, such as dioxins, furan, and chloro-

8000 and 12,000 people (Pearshouse, 2012; Blacksmith

Institute and Green Cross, 2013). There, about 75 tonne

of solid waste and about 22 million L of wastewater are

generated per day (Azom et al., 2012). Most of the waste-

water is discharged into the Buriganga River, Dhaka’s

water supply, without any treatment (Pearshouse, 2012;

Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross, 2013). In effluents

of one of those tanneries, the BOD5 was measured at

3600 mg/L and the COD at 9300 mg/L. Both far exceeded

the permitted standards. Concentrations of chromium of

4043 mg/L, chloride of 45,000 mg/L, lead of 1944 mg/L,

and sulfide of 145 mg/L have been measured. These are

much higher than the permitted levels of 2 mg/L for chro-

mium, 600 mg/L for chloride, 0.1 mg/L for lead, and 1

mg/L for sulfide (Rahman, 1997; Pearshouse 2012). Alt-

hough these values were measured in 1997, the results

from studies of the Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross

(2013), Pearshouse (2012), and Azom et al. (2012) showed

almost no improvement had been achieved in this region

and almost no action taken in waste management (was-

tewater and solid waste) or for the development of sound

leather production.

The pollution of the leather industry (tanneries) is not only

adversely affecting the environment, but also the workers

and local people of the Hazaribagh district of Dhaka, Ban-

gladesh. There, local residents are living besides channels

with untreated tannery effluent. The residents and wor-

kers from the tannery facilities suffer from rashes, itches,

fever, diarrhea, and respiratory problems. The workers

from the tannery facilities especially suffer from the poor

occupational health and safety conditions. This is shown

through the adverse health effects, such as premature

aging, discolored, itchy, acid burned, and rash-covered

skin, aches, dizziness and nausea, respiratory diseases,

and elevated cancer rates. These arise because the tan-

nery companies do not often provide adequate protective

clothing (gloves, masks, boots, and aprons) and because

of the unsafe and dirty working conditions (Pearshouse,

2012).

Paper industry

Introduction

In some regions, especially in Indonesia, the paper indus-

try might be responsible for deforestation because of its

unsustainable pulpwood harvesting practices. In addition,

the pulp and paper industry is, among others, one of the

world’s largest consumers of energy. The industry is emit-

ting large amounts of GHGs. Although deforestation and


raw materials of the cement are added to a kiln system.

The clinker is formed by the drying/preheating, calci-

nation, and sintering of the raw material at temperatures

in the range of 1000 to 1500°C (Karstensen, 2006;

Conesa et al., 2008; Lei et al., 2011). This process consu-

mes large amounts of energy. A state-of-the-art furnace

used for clinkering needs about 3000 MJ per tonne of

produced clinker (Habert et al., 2010). To produce this

energetic input, conventional fossil fuels, such as coal, li-

gnite, petroleum coke, or oil are burned. More recently,

waste material – including waste oil, used tires, paint thin-

ners, degreasing solvents, solvents from the ink and prin-

ting industries, chemical by-products and solid waste

from pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers, muni-

cipal solid wastes, and sewage sludge – are added to the

regular fuels as inexpensive substitutes for the conven-

tional fuels to reduce costs during this energy-intensive

process. The organic and inorganic air pollutants arising

from this combustion process are of highest environmen-

tal concern, especially if the combustion processes in the

furnace are poor (lower temperature, bad mixing, and a

shortage of oxygen). The pollution is worse if the exhaust

fumes of the cement production facilities are not filtered

and controlled, which might be the case in LAMICs. In

this case, toxic inorganic and organic pollutant can be

released (Conesa et al., 2008).

Pollution potential from the cement industry

The conventional and/or substitute fuels and the raw

material can contain heavy metals that can be released

during the combustion processes. The higher toxic heavy

metals, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Cd, are volatile or semivolatile,

while As, Cr, Cu, Sb, and Zn remain in the clinker materi-

al. Inadequate combustion of organic matter and fossil

fuels produces highly toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic

products. Persistent and bioaccumulative compounds,

such as dioxins, furans (PCDD/Fs), and PAHs, can be

generated and released into the environment (see section

E-waste pollutants of environmental concern (p. 106)

for their impact on the environment. Other hazardous

compounds, like HCl, hydrogen fluoride, oxides of nitro-

gen, sulfur dioxide, and VOCs, such as benzenes, tolue-

nes, xylenes, and phenols, can be released as well (Kars-

tensen, 2006; Conesa et al., 2008; Mehraj et al., 2013).

phenols, and VOCs, such as acetone, methylene chloride,

carbon disulfide, chloroform, chloromethane, trichloroe-

thane, and others (United States Environmental Protec-

tion Agency, 2002; Pokhrel and Viraraghavan, 2004). The

paper making process can generate wastewater with

organic compounds, solvents, and heavy metals from

dyes (United States Environmental Protection Agency,

2002; Pokhrel and Viraraghavan, 2004).

Case study of concern for the paper industry

Because there is a lack of data and information, no appro-

priate and recent case example of pollution by the paper

industry in LAMICs has been found. It would be relevant

to further investigate the exposure, fate, and environ-

mental risks of pollutants released by the paper industry.

Construction industry (cement industry)

Introduction

Cement is used as an important binding agent within the

construction industry. It is produced all over the world

in large quantities. According to the United States Geolo-

gical Survey, global production of cement was about 4 bil-

lion tonne per year in 2013 (United States Geological

Survey, 2014). Cement production involves a series of dif-

ferent processing steps, including (Karstensen, 2006):

• Quarrying the raw materials

• Grinding the raw materials

• Fuel preparation and combustion (preparing conven-

tional fossil fuels and alternative fuels)

• Clinker burning (involving drying, preheating,

calcination, clinkering, and clinker cooling)

• Preparation of mineral additives at the cement mill

• Cement packing and dispatching.

All these steps are described in more detail in the report

on Formation and Release of POPs in the Cement Indus-

try (Karstensen, 2006). Of these processes, clinkering is

the central one and, from an environmental and human

health perspective, the most relevant one – not because

of the cement, but because of its energy consumption. To

produce clinker, the silica and calcium carbonate bearing


Rubber industry

Introduction

Today, the production and use of rubber, naturally or syn-

thetically produced, is indispensable in our daily lives.

Given its physical properties, such as being flexible and

resilient at the same time, and its waterproof and dielec-

tric characteristics, rubber is widely used in many indust-

rial products (conveyor belts, gasket rings, as adhesives,

tires, or in fan belts, and automotive radiator hoses). It

is contained in many commodities that are used in our

daily lives (clothes and footwear, toys, and rubber gloves;

Vishnu et al., 2011). Rubber production has increased

continuously over the last decades. In 1996, about 15.5

million tonne of rubber were produced; today yearly rub-

ber production is 27.5 million tonne. Of this, 56% is syn-

thetic rubber and 43% originates from natural rubber

material (International Rubber Study Group, 2014). In

general, rubber production consumes large amounts

of energy and water. Large amounts and a wide range

of chemicals, and sodium sulfites and ammonia as anti-

coagulants, activators, dyes, acids, vulcanization agents,

accelerators, and softeners are added to the raw material

during the production of latex and rubber. This can lead to

the release of large volumes of hazardous chemicals

into the environment during the production processes


Edirisinghe et al., 2008; Vishnu et al., 2011). Given the

large volumes of water used during the cooling, cleaning,

and washing processes during rubber production, large

amounts of wastewater are produced. For the production

of 1 kg of natural raw rubber, 40 – 50 L of wastewater are

generated (Edirisinghe et al., 2008).

Pollutions potential from the rubber and plastic industry

If the effluents are not treated, these discharges can have

high levels of BOD and COD. The effluents contain high

levels of organic compounds, such as rubber particles,

carbohydrates, proteins and amino acids, and uncoagula-

ted rubber particles, and TSS. The effluents of the rubber

industry are of an acidic nature. In addition, the effluents

of rubber factories can contain sulfur compounds, ammo-

nia, or acids, such as formic, acetic, or oxalic acid (United

States Environmental Agency, 2005; Edirisinghe et al.,

2008; Vishnu et al., 2011). The presence of high loads

of organic material, hydrogen sulfides, ammonia, and

amines can cause a foul-smelling odor, especially in

water with high BOD and COD. The dissolved oxygen le-

vels are low, which makes the water unsuitable for drin-

king for several kilometers downstream from the rubber

Case study of concern for the cement industry

A health risk assessment study focusing on the health

risk to residents living in the vicinity of a cement manu-

facturing plant was conducted in Khrew, Jammu and

Kashmir, India by Mehraj et al. (2013). In this region,

cement manufactories, brick kilns, stone crushers, and

automobile exhaust are the main emitters of air pollu-

tants. There, cement production is quite high and enough

of the raw materials – limestone/chalk, marl, and clay/sha-

le – required for cement production are available to supply

several factories in Khrew, Wuyan, and Khonmoh. The stu-

dy revealed that in Khrew about 15,000 to 20,000 people,

who live within a 2 km to 3 km radius of the cement ma-

nufacturing facilities, are directly affected by the pollu-

tants released from cement production. In this region,

cement dust, which is emitted during cement production

and deposited in a thin layer, affects human and environ-

mental health. This deposit comes about mainly because

there is no efficient dust control equipment, but also be-

cause there are no adequate filter systems used during

the manufacture of cement (The Vox Kashmir, 2013). Ce-

ment production can adversely affect environmental and

human health through cement dust and/or chemical

pollution released during the heating process. The latter

pollutants are adsorbed to the dust particles. Because of

its high and aggressive alkalinity, frequent inhalation of

cement dust can cause respiratory diseases in the long

run. This is particularly the case for workers involved

directly in cement production and processing, and for

residents living in the vicinity of cement production

plants. Many workers in India are not wearing appropriate

gloves, masks, or footwear (The Vox Kashmir, 2013; Mehr-

aj et al., 2013). Contact with cement dust can cause

serious and irreversible injuries to the eyes. Skin contact

can cause damage to nerve endings, can burn the skin, or

can cause irritant contact dermatitis (Hanson Heidelberg

Cement Group, 2009).

When comparing the incidence of disease in Khrew

with that in Burzahama, a city without any adjacent

cement production facilities, there was a significant in-

crease in the incidence of disease that can be directly

associated with the continuous exposure to cement dust

in Khrew (The Vox Kashmir, 2013; Mehraj et al., 2013).


Lanka were analyzed. It showed that about 50% of the

wastewaters of the Sri Lankan industries tested excee-

ded the general standards and tolerance limits for BOD,

COD, and TSS values specified by the Sri Lankan Central

Environmental Authority (CEA). For instance, an average

BOD of 1063 mg/L, an average COD of 2010 mg/L, and an

average TSS of 242.9 mg/L were measured. The CEA tole-

rance limits for wastewater effluents are 50/60 mg/L for

BOD, 400 mg/L for COD, and 100 mg/L for TSS. A pollut-

ed river, which is close to the rubber industries near Han-

wella, Sri Lanka is shown in Figure 31.

Market share of several industrial commodities – mapping the risks

To date, comprehensive data about industrial pollutants

are neither compiled nor available. Nevertheless, with the

help of data about market share it is possible to identify

potential risk areas with high industrial activities. These

data can give the first hints as to those regions where

more risk assessment studies and further investigation

would be required.

With the demographic changes and chemical intensi-

fication (see section The future of chemical pollutants

in low- and middle-income countries, p. 15), which

are more pronounced in LAMICs, general industrial pro-

duction is shifting from HICs to LAMICs. The data of the

International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2014 (Uni-

ted Nations Industrial Development Organization, 2014)

indicated that the market share (%) of China for com-

modities produced by such manufacturing sectors as

leather, paper, rubber, and textiles, and the share of che-

mical products doubled from 2005 to 2012 (not shown

here). During the same period, the USA’s share of the-

se commodities decreased by one-half to three-quarters.

A more detailed look at the global market shares of com-

modities from the leather and footwear, paper, rubber and

plastic, textile, wearing apparel, and chemical production

industries (Figure 32) is informative. It can be seen that

these commodities are produced in considerable quanti-

ties in LAMICs as well, while the high market shares of

these different commodities for China are obvious at first

sight. The increase in the market shares of these indus-

trial commodities during 2005 and 2012, and the high

levels of market share achieved for industrial commodi-

ties in China further confirm the outsourcing of industries

from HICs to LAMICs. In China, particularly, the market

shares of leather and footwear, textiles, and wearing

production facilities (Vishnu et al., 2011). Furthermore,

consistent with this deterioration in water quality, there is

evidence that the continuous discharges of the waste-

water effluents of the rubber industry considerably affect

the biota of the water body. This is particularly so if the ef-

fluents are untreated, which might be the case in several

regions in LAMICs (Arimoro, 2009).

Moreover, the inappropriate disposal of rubber material as

solid waste or its incineration can cause severe environ-

mental pollution as well. Given that rubber degrades

slowly, its disposal can have serious ecological risks and

adverse aesthetic effects to the terrestrial and aquatic en-

vironment. The incomplete or inadequate combustion of

rubber material and solid waste can lead to the formation

of highly toxic, carcinogenic, and persistent chemicals,

such as PAHs and polyhalogenated hydrocarbons (dioxins

and furans; United States Environmental Protection

Agency, 2005; Wang and Chang-Chien, 2007).

Case study of concern for the rubber industry

In Sri Lanka, the rubber industry is considered one of the

main industrial polluters. There, the effluents of rubber

production plants often are discharged directly into water

bodies without any treatment, resulting in environmental

pollution and a deterioration in water quality (Edirisinghe

et al., 2008).

In a comprehensive study by Edirisinghe et al. (2008),

wastewater effluents of 62 rubber manufactories in Sri

Figure 31: Water pollution suspected to emanate from rubber industries near Hanwella,

Sri Lanka (Picture: Revolve Water, 2014).


can then be used to identify potential risk areas where

high amounts of toxic chemicals might be released into

the environment. This holds true especially for regions

with high industrial production rates and where unsusta-

inable and environmentally unfriendly production practi-

ces are applied. Consequently, by considering these data,

presumptive risk areas where environmental and human

health might be affected could be assessed.

Figure 33 shows that the highest amounts of cement are

produced in LAMICs, such as China and India (67.5 – 1880

million tonne/year). The amounts of cement produced in

other LAMICs, like Turkey, Brazil, Iran, Vietnam, Egypt,

Thailand, Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, Algeria, Malaysia,

and the Philippines (in descending order), are of the same

order of magnitude as those of the HICs – United States,

Japan, Russia, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Ger-

many, Spain, France, and United Arab Emirates (descen-

ding order). In 2010, production in these countries ranged

between 1.5 and 67.5 million tonne/year (United States

Geological Survey, 2012). Hence human and environmen-

tal health might particularly be affected in LAMICs with

the highest cement production rates and where obsolete

methods are used. This is particularly so if adequate de-

vices to control the emission of industrial pollutants into

the environment are lacking or if the workers and emplo-

yers of the cement industry are poorly educated and not

aware of the toxic chemicals and pollutants released du-

ring their work. The health of people in general is threa-

tened if the industrial areas are densely populated, as is

the case in Khrew, India (The Vox Kashmir, 2013; Mehraj

et al., 2013; see the Case study of concern for the ce-

ment industry, p. 135).

apparel far exceed those of the USA, which, with its high

market shares of industrial commodities, acts as a repre-

sentative of HICs. However, the market shares of chemi-

cal products, paper, and rubber and plastic commodities

are comparable in both countries.

In addition, the Turkish, Indonesian, Indian, and South

African market shares of wearing apparel (1.5 – 2.8%)

and the Indian, Turkish, and Indonesian shares of textiles

(2.5 – 4.5%) are comparable to those of the USA (4.3%

for wearing apparel and 6.2% for textiles). This indica-

tes that considerable amounts of these commodities are

produced and put on the market as well. In LAMICs and

China, according to the market share data presented in

Figure 32, the leather and foowear production activi-

ties in Indonesia, India, and Turkey are considerable as

well (1.6 – 3.5%).

Nevertheless, it must be remembered that the percen-

tage market shares of Brazil, India, Indonesia, Thailand,

Turkey, and South Africa, but not China, were based on

the sum of the shares just from LAMICs in the Internatio-

nal Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2014 (United Nations

Industrial Development Organization, 2014). Because of

that, these percentage values were normalized to those

of the world share, which might cause an increase in the

uncertainty of the data and be incorrect if evaluated on a

country scale. The market share values (%) of China had

been calculated already by considering the global market

share values.

Besides the market share values, data about the produc-

tion of industrial raw materials could be used also to loca-

lize areas with high industrial activities. This information

Figure 32: Proportion (%)

of the global market shares

of chemical products, leather

and footwear, paper, rubber

and plastic, textiles, and

wearing apparel in Brazil,

China, India, Indonesia, South

Africa, Thailand, Turkey,

and the USA for 2012 (United

Nations Industrial Develop-

ment Organization, 2014)

Chemical products

Leather & Footwear

Paper

Rubber & Plastic

Textile

Wearing apparel

Percent share 2012

23


Although there is some information about the market

share and production of industrial commodities, these

data are not comprehensive and are too fragmented

for a proper environmental and human health risk as-

sessment study. Therefore, to localize risk areas where

human and environmental health are endangered, more

comprehensive and transparent data about industrial ac-

tivities (production, export, import, and water and energy

consumption) and the monitoring of exhaust gases and

wastewater effluents are required to predict the impacts

of industrial pollutants in more detail.

In general, it can be assumed that the potential for exces-

sive hazardous pollution is highest in those LAMICs that

have experienced a remarkable economic boom within

a short period of time, such as China (United Nations

Industrial Development Organization, 2014). Often in

these countries, the regulatory systems, the technical

equipment, the know-how, and the financial capacity are

not sufficiently well developed. They are unable to address

adequately the increased industrial production and

to soundly manage the handling, use, trade in, and

disposal of hazardous pollutants, which are used in, or gene-

rated during, production (African Ministerial Conference on

Environment and United Nations Environment Pro-

gramme, 2004; United Nations Environment Program-

me, 2013c; European Chemical Industry Council, 2013;

United Nations Industrial Development Organization,

2013).

Figure 33: 2010 cement

production in different

countries (United States

Geological Survey, 2012)

1 - 35,000

35,000 - 5,000,000

5,000,000 - 15,000,000

15,000,000 - 67,500,000

67,500,000 - 1,880,000,000

Cement production [tonne/a]

No data

Income group: HICs

LAMICs

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